Apparatus for reclaiming used lubricating oil



Sept. 26, 1939.

c. E. HOLT 2,174,265

APPARATUS FOR BECLAIMING USED LUBRICATING OIL Fi led May 24, 1935 3 SheetsSheet l lil :JIJHH] INVENTOR Y C. E HOLT Sept. 26, 1939.

APPARATUS FOR RECLAIMING USED LUBRICATING OIL 3 Sheets Sheet 2 Filed May 24, 1935 INVENTQR Car/ E Ho/f MW/ ATTORNEY m aflbflfi ggmfi lh .Slapt; 26, 1939.

C. E. HOLT APPARATUS FOR EEGLAIMING USED LUBRICATING OIL Filed May 24, 1935 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 R Y. w. 7 m m m VE H 0 m A W H .7 .w a W C l ilhmmlllllll I I! l I l Patented Sept. 26, 1939 UNITED STATES APPARATUS FOR RECLAIMING USED LUBRICATING on.

Carl E. Holt, Kansas City, Mo.

Application May 24,

3 Claims.

This invention relates to an apparatus for reclaiming used lubricating oils, and particularly used motor oils.

In present processes of reclaiming motor oils,

they must be carried out in large gallonages to make the practice economically practicable and the processing requires several hours or days in order to thoroughly clean and purify the oil for reuse. Therefore, oil reclamation is available only to the users of large fleets of vehicles and event then it is necessary to maintain a double supply of oil in order to have oil available to keep the vehicles in service while the used oil is being processed.

In case of the individual motorist or small fleet owner, he must be willing to obtain the reclaimed oil from the large reclamation plants and take the risk of possible intermixing of various grades and brands of used oil that is purchased for reclamation.

It is, therefore, the principal object of the present invention to provide a process for the economic and thorough purification of small quantities of used motor oils in an extremely short period of time, whereby used oil drained from a motor vehicle may be individually processed without mixture with other oils, and returned to the motor without taking the vehicle out of use for any appreciable length of time.

In accomplishing these and other objects of the invention, as hereinafter pointed out, I have provided improved details of structure, the preferred form of which is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a perspective View of an oil reclamation device embodying the features of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a vertical cross section through the device on the line 22, Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a vertical section through the device on the line 3-3, Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a detail perspective View of the parts of the filter and heater portions of the device shown in disassembled spaced relation to better illustrate the construction.

Fig. 5 is a horizontal section on the line 55, Fig. 2.

Fig. 6 is a horizontal section through the heater portion of the device on the line 6-6, Fig, 3.

Fig. '7 is an enlarged detail fragmentary section on the line 1'l, Fig. 1, particularly illustrating the clamp for retaining the filter and heater parts in assembled position.

Fig. 8 is an enlarged perspective view of the parts of one of the heater elements.

1935, Serial No. 23,218

Fig. 9 is a wiring diagram of the electric circuit for supplying current to the heating elements and to the motor operating the vacuum pump.

Referring more in detail to the drawings:

l designates a cabinet including front and rear walls 2-3, and side walls 4-5 connected by horizontal inset portions 6 and l, and a bottom 8.

The partition 6 is inset from the upper end of the cabinet to form a heating chamber 9 and the partition I is inset above the bottom 8 to cooperate with the partition 6 in forming a chamber l8 therebetween to house the motor and filter medium storage compartments later described.

The upper edges of the front, rear and side walls are flanged inwardly as at H to form a seat to support a top plate l2. The plate l2 conforms in shape to the cross section of the cabinet and has a depending flange I3 overlapping the outer faces of the walls thereof as best illusrated in Fig. 2. The central portion of the plate I2 is provided with an annular inset flange M encircling a'central opening therein. Seated on the inset flange I4 is a gasket ring IE to mount a heater ll through which the oil is circulated as later described.

The heater I1 is best illustrated in Figs. 4 and 6 and includes an inverted cone-shaped bottom or heating plate 18 having a central outlet l9. The periphery of the cone-shaped bottom is flanged outwardly, as at 2|], and rests directly upon the gasket ring I6. Formed at the periphery of the portion 20 is a vertical wall 2| terminating in an outwardly extending rim 22 overlapping the upper face of the plate [2 as best illustrated in Fig. 2.

Formed on the rim portion 22 and extending radially therefrom is a plurality of lugs 23 having openings extending therethrough for mount ing the threaded shanks 24 of clamping members 26 and which have their lower ends engaging in threaded sockets 21 formed in the corners of the plate l2. The clamping members have heads 28 which engage against the upper faces of the lugs to urge the plate into sealed engagement with the gasket ring I6 to prevent leakare thereunder and transfer of heat to the plate l2.

Formed on the cone-shaped bottom and extending upwardly therefrom is a plane spiral rib 29 having the coils thereof spaced apart to form a spiral passageway 30 having its inlet 3| located adjacent the inner periphery of the vertical wall 2| and having its outlet 32 communicating with the central opening 19. The upper edges of the spiral rib terminate short of the upper plane of the flange 22 and seat a disk 33 to close the spiral-like passageway therebetween so that when the oil enters the inlet 3!, it must circulate completely through the passageway to gain access to the outlet 19 as later described. The outer edge 34 of the disk overlaps the outer coil of the spiral rib which is spaced from the inner face of the wall 2| to form an annular channel 35 so that oil upon contacting the plate moves toward the outer edge thereof and drips therefrom into the channel for flow therethrough into the inlet 3| of the spiral passageway. Formed in the inner face of the wall 2| is an inset shoulder 36 for seating a perforated plate 31 which is superimposed over the disk 33 and closes the open top heater.

Carried on the disk 33 is a screen 38 for supporting the central portion of the perforated disk and providing spaces for affording passage of oil from the perforations across the disk to the outer periphery thereof. Resting on the perforated disk is a layer of woven wire cloth 40 which is of sufficient thickness so that the upper face thereof lies in the plane of the upper face of the rim 22. Seated on the cloth and having its periphery overlapping the upper face of the rim 22 is a sheet of filtering material such as paper M to filter the oil prior to its delivery to the spiral heating chamber as hereinafter described.

In order to retain the filter sheet in sealing contact with the face of the rim 22, I provide an annular clamping ring 42 having a gasket 43 seated in the lower edge thereof to seal the space between the ring and filter paper and prevent leakage of oil thereunder, the clamping ring being retained by means of screws 54 that are pivotally connected with the heads 28 of the clamping devices previously described and which have their outer ends threaded and adapted to be extended between pairs of lugs 45 and 46 that project radially from the clamping ring as best illustrated in Figs. 4 and 7. Threaded on the projecting ends of the screws are wing nuts 47 which engage against the upper edges of the lugs to draw the clamping ring into sealing engagement with the filter paper and the filter paper into sealing contact with the rim of the heater.

Carried on the upper edge of the clamping ring is a cone-shaped cover 48 having a depending rim 49 overlapping the outer periphery of the clamping ring. Fixed to the upper face of the cover in axial alignment therewith is a cylindrical collar 55 into which oil is poured for flow through a plurality of inlet openings formed in the cover and which communicate with depending nipples 5 for mounting cone-shaped spreaders 52. In order that the Spreaders 52 be retained in perpendicular position so that the oil will drip from the entire periphery thereof, they are universally suspended from the nipples by means of tubular connectors 53 having their upper ends pivoted to the tube as at 54 and their lower ends pivotally suspending the deflectors as at 55, best shown in Fig. 2.

Threaded in the outlet opening i9 01 the heater is a discharge pipe 56 having its lower end connected to an inlet nipple 51 of an oil dephlegmating and receiving tank 58 by means of a coupling 55, the coupling extending through a suitable opening 60 formed in the partition 6.

The oil receiving tank is of rectangular shape and is supported on the partition I in substantially the center of the cabinet and extends from the front wall thereof to a point adjacent the rear wall The tank is of relatively narrow width and includes side Walls 62 and 63, end walls E5 and a top wall 66, and an inclined bottom 6'1 sloping toward the cabinet wall 2.

Carried by the side walls 62 and 63 are alternately arranged inclined partitions 68 having their lower ends spaced from the corresponding end wall of the housing to form a tortuous passageway for the flow of oil when it is discharged into the receiving chamber.

Due to the fact that the receiving chamber is of relatively narrow width and has substantially large surface area, a rapid cooling effect is provided so that by the time the oil reaches the bottom of the receiver, it is cool enough to be drawn from the container for return to the motor vehicle from which it has been previously withdrawn.

The draw-off for the receiver includes a faucet E39 projecting from the front wall and having threaded connection with a collar 1c encircling the outlet opening in the receiving tank as best illustrated in Fig. 2.

The oil is heated during its flow through the passageways of the heater by heating elements H which, in the present instance, comprise electric resistances mounted in ring shaped housings l2 and have their ends connected with terminal connections l3 and M that are connected to a relay switch 15 that is supplied with current from line wires '56 and Tl as shown in the wiring diagram in Fig. 9.

In order to retain the heating elements in close contact with the bottom of the heating chamber, I provide disks it; that engage in the lower faces of the heating elements and support the upper face thereof in engagement with the heater.

To retain the disk, I provide studs 19 threaded into the bottom wall of the heater and extending through central openings in the clamping disks, the clamping disk being retained thereon by nuts 3! threaded on the projecting ends of the studs. The terminals of the heating elements project through suitable openings 82 in the clamping disk.

To maintain substantially constant temperature within the heating chamber, the bottom wall thereof is provided with a depending lug 83 in which is mounted a suitable thermostat element having a control head 85 thereon extending through a suitable opening formed in the front wall of the casing where it is provided with a suitable knob to adjust the temperature at which the thermostat operates the relay switch to maintain the desired temperature in the heater.

If desired, the heating elements may be connected in circuit with a visible signal 36, as shown in Figs. 1 and 9, so that when the relay switch is operated to stop the current flow to the heaters, the signal will indicate when the still !8 has attained the heat for which the thermostat 84 been set to energize the heating elements, whereupon the signal will be actuated to indicate closure of the heating circuit.

In order to promote flow of the oil through the filtering paper and through the tortuous passageway, I provide means for creating a vacuum within the outlet iii. In the illustrated instance this is accomplished by means of a vacuum pump 3'! that is driven by a suitable motor 88.

The motor and vacuum pump are mounted in a motor compartment that is formed between the side wall 4 and a vertical partition 89 extending alongside the receiving tank between the horizontal partitions 6 and 1. The inlet connection 90 of the vacuum pump is connected by a pipe 9| with a condensate tank 92 that is also located in the motor compartment at one end thereof as illustrated in Fig. 5. The pipe 9! is equipped with a check valve 9! that closes the line when the motor stops to hold the vacuum on the filter paper.

The condensate tank 92 is connected with a pipe 93 having its inlet end 94 extending into the pipe 56 where it is provided With an L 95 mounting a pipe nipple 96 that extends axially ;Within the pipe 55 to a point above the level of oil discharged through the outlet 32.

Located at the opposite end of the motor compartment is a similar tank 9'! for containing a quantity of lubricating oil 538 that is inserted into the tank through a fill connection 99. Projecting downwardly within the center of the tank is a bafile I having its lower end terminating below the level of oil in the tank. The outlet connection H of the vacuum pump is connected with the tank at one side of the baffle by a pipe I02 so that the vapors withdrawn by the pump are discharged into the tank 91 for flow around the baiile and to the outlet from the tank through a pipe I03.

In order to circulate oil from the tank for lubricating the vacuum pump, I provide a pipe H14 connected with the vacuum line 9i and having an end portion depending below the surface of the oil in the tank so that when the pump is in operation, oil is drawn from the tank through the pipe N14 for flow through the vacuum pump and returned to the tank through the discharge line 102.

The tanks 92 and 91 are provided with suitable draw-oil valves and tilt, respectively.

Access is had to the motor compartment through a suitable opening it! formed in the side 4 of the cabinet, and located at the opposite side of the cabinet is an opening its for access to a filter medium storage compartment I09 wherein the filtering material is stored in heat exchange contact with the side and walls of the receiving tank to preheat the filtering material.

In using an apparatus constructed and assembled as described, oil to be reclaimed, which containsvarious foreign materials such as carbon, dirt, condensed gasoline vapors, Water, 'etc., is emptied into a tank Hi1 where it is mixed with a quantity of filtering material that is removed from the compartment 39. If the oil is below 150 F., it is heated in the mixing chamber by means of a suitable heating element supplied with current through conductors HI adapted to be plugged into the electric circuit of the oil reclaiming apparatus.

The filtering material may be any type of active adsorptive reagent, but I have found best results are attained through the use of finely ground fullers earth. The quantity of fullers earth added to each gallon of oil will vary from one pound to four, depending upon the fineness and quality of the earth, the quantity of moisture held by the earth, and the condition of the oil being treated. In general practice, one to two and one-half pounds of earth is used in carrying out the process.

During mixture of the first of the fullers earth with the oil, it will absorb the principal water content and some of the carbon or tarry mate rial in the oil before it becomes inactive. The balance of the earth, when added, at substancarried on in from two to four minutes per gallon.

The mixture is then poured into the collar for flow through the outlet nipples 5i and over the cone-shaped distributors to the upper surface of the filtering paper where the oil carrying the suspended filtering material spreads thereover and passes therethrough leaving the fullers earth. This filtering paper is preferably filled with twenty-five milligrams, or more, of fullers earth per square inch, so that the oil is further treated by the fullers earth upon its passage through the filtering paper.

The oil on passing through the filtering paper enters the heater wherein its temperature is preferably maintained above the boiling point of any Water content and is subjected to the vacuum drawn through the pipe 95. The vacuum not only lowers the vaporizing point of the foreign liquids carried in the oil but increases the rate of fiow through the filter and onto the plate 33 of the heater.

The capacity of the vacuum pump and heater surfaces are proportioned so that the flow of oil is automatically maintained in direct ratio to the amount of diluents distilled off at any predetermined temperature set by the operator. Therefore, when the oil being reclaimed has a large percentage of diluents that will distill at the temperature for which the thermostat has been set, the vacuum will be reduced by thesev r' excess vapors, thus reducing the filtering rate through the paper. Thus, Oils with a high percentage of diluents will automatically be given a longer distillation time through the machine than oils that do not have a percentage of dilucuts that require this longer distillation time.

The oil upon reaching the plate then flows thereacross to the annular sump 35 and to the inlet of the spiral passageway 36 where it flows therethrough to the outlet I9. During movement of the oil through the spiral passageway, the oil is heated to distillation temperatures of the light ends or diluents contained in the oil. Since the oil is thus heated in a relatively small continuously moving stream, rapid heating is effected without danger of generating excessive pressures in the apparatus.

Attention is directed to the fact that the oil delivered through the filtering paper is controlled in amount by the amount of vacuum and to that;;

which can pass through the perforations in the plate 31 and they are designed to maintain a fixed rate governed by the ability of the heating elements to vaporize the light ends of the diluents.

Oils with a high percentage of diluent in them and oils that have received ample earth contact, filter faster than those that have lower percentages of diluents and it is important to balance flow between filter and distillation means so that the rate of flow of oil corresponds to the capacity of the distillation means provided and therefore provides against the generation of excessive pressures within the apparatus and produces a gas-free and almost odorless final product.

The liquid oil flowing through the heater passes out through the pipe 56 filled with contact material 56 and splashes from one bafile 68 to the next causing liberation of generated ases still contained in the oil.

The freed gases will be drawn by the pump along with the stream of vapors distilled from the oil through the vacuum line 93 into the condensate tank where most of the heavier constituents are condensed and collected in the form of penetrating oil. The other vapors will be drawn through the line 9| and discharged through the vacuum pump into the oil containing tank 91 where they are discharged tothe outlet pipe I03. During this movement of the vapors through the oil tank, some of them will be absorbed thereby and retained in the oil, iwhile the other vapors are discharged through the line I03 to atmosphere.

After all the oil has passed through the apparatus and collected in the tank 58, it may be drawn from the faucet 69 and returned to the motor of the vehicle from which is was drained.

To break the vacuum in the tank 58 so that the oil will run freely from the faucet, the tank is vented by means of a vent valve H2, shown in Fig. 2.

After passing through the apparatus, the oil is free of diluents, dependent upon the setting of the thermostat, carbon, and other coloring material as well as the water acidity, and other extraneous matter and is, in fact, a high quality, gas-free, odorless, lubricating oil.

From the foregoing it is apparent that I have provided an apparatus wherein small individual batches of used lubricating oils can be readily reclaimed and reconditioned in a minimum length of time and without explosion hazards involved in most reclamation apparatus.

All solids are deposited on the filter paper in a practically dry oilless cake, which can be removed from the machine quickly by lifting the filter paper. Because all solids are removed from the oil before distillation, the machine will re quire no further cleaning, for an indefinite time, other than removing the filter paper. For this same reason, the still of this machine will never have carbon deposits to cause local overheating and hot spots that might cause burning out of heaters and explosions.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. An apparatus of the character described including a heater having a heating surface provided with a spiral fiange extending from said heating surface to form a tortuous passageway, said heater having an annular passageway encircling the tortuous passageway and having an outlet port connected with the inner end of said tortuous passageway, a disk supported on said spiral flange for closing the top of the tortuous passageway, a filter for filtering oil and having its periphery clampingly engaged with the heater circumferentially of said annular passageway, means for spacing the filter from said disk whereby oil moving through the filter is directed to said annular passageway for movement through the tortuous passageway, and means for creating a pressure differential between the upper side of the filter and the outlet port for facilitating flow of oil through the filter and promoting flow of oil through the tortuous passageway.

2. An apparatus of the characted described including a heater having a heating surface provided with a spiral flange extending upwardly from said heating surface to form a tortuous passageway, a disk seated on said flange for closing the passageway, said heater having an annular passageway encircling the spiral flange and an outlet port at the inner end of the tortuous passageway, a screen element supported on said disk, a foraminated plate carried above the screen element, a sheet of filtering material supported above the foraminated plate and having its periphery clampingly engaged with the heater circumferentially of the annular passageway, means for discharging oil onto the sheet of filtering material for fiow therethrough, and means for establishing pressure differential between the upper side of the filtering sheet and said outlet port for promoting flow of oil through the filtering sheet and through said tortuous passageway.

3. An apparatus of the character described including a heater having a heating surface provided with a spiral flange extending upwardly from said heating surface to form a tortuous passageway, a disk seated on said flange for closing the passageway, said heater having an annular passageway encircling the spiral flange and an outlet port at the inner end of the tortuous passageway, a screen element supported on said disk, a foraminated plate carried above the screen element, a fabric disk supported on the foraminated plate, a sheet of filtering material covering the fabric disk and having its periphery clampingly engaged with the heater circumferentially of the annular passageway, means for discharging oil onto the sheet of filtering material for fiow therethrough, and means for establishing pressure differential between the upper side of the filtering sheet and said outlet port for promoting flow of oil through the filtering sheet and through said tortuous passageway.

CARL E. HOLT. 

